THE NATURE OF LEADERSHIP by Sylvestre McLaren

e trade union movement since the 1960’s is the Treasurer of the National Workers’ Union. He joined the movement as a result of being involved in left politics.

In 1961 he joined the Union of Foods Hotels Beverages and Allied Workers, which later changed its name to the Union of Foods Hotels and Industrial Workers.

Subsequent to the Bus STRIKE OF 1969, in which he was involved, he became a member of the Transport and Industrial Workers Union (TIWU) and was instrumental in causing employees of Trinidad Paper Products Ltd to join TIWU.

He became an Officer in TIWU in October 1978 being elected to the position of Chief Organiser with responsibility for recruiting and organising branches into the Union.

He held the position of Education and Research Officer and was an Executive Officer until 1997.

In that same year he became an employee of the National Union of Government and Federated Workers and served that Union for 7 years.

The
truthis,however,itisthepeoplewhoproducetheleaders.Thosewhoemergeasleadersinasocietyarethosewhoattheparticularpointinthehistoryof the people,representtheembodimentoftheissuesaffectingthemandthestrugglestheyarewagingto change the society for the benefit of the
majority atthat point in time.

Such
leaders are theproductofthe class struggle and of
the dynamics of the dialecticalprocessofdevelopmentofthesocial,economicandpoliticallifeofthatsociety.

Thisprocessis always at work,anditcanproduceprogressiveaswellas reactionary leaders,dependingonthe revolutionary awareness and strength of the working class.Iftheforcesoftheworkingclassaretoproduceleaderswithstrongworkingclassconvictions,thentheorganisationsoftheclassmustdothenecessaryworktoachievethatobjective.

Wecannotexpecttherulingclasstoproduceleadersfortheclasstowhich it is diametrically opposed. Workingpeoplecomprisethemajorityinthesocietybutinthepolitics,wedivideourstrengths between partieswhichdonotrepresentourclass interests.

FREEDOM

It
is true we have the freedom to belong to any political party of our choice but
if we are conscious of the class to which we belong then I believe that we have
a moral duty to recognize where our class interests lie.

This
situationmustchangeandwearecapableofmakingthechange.However,wemustalsobecarefulabout how we make thechangebecausethechangethatisrequiredmustcomefrompoliticalstructuresbuiltfromwithinthecommunities,thetradeunionsandotherworkers’organisations. Fortoolongwehave allowed ourselvestobeledbypartieswhichdonotrepresentourclassinterest. We
mustbecomemoreawareofourpoliticalenvironment and
scrutinize thevariouspoliticalparties.

In some countriestherulingclassesproducepoliticalpartiesofvarious shades. One canfindpartiesthat are leftofcentre,rightofcentre,farright,farleft,middleoftheroadandso on. And youwillfindthattheleadersofthesedifferenttypesalsowearthelabel.Iamsureifyoushouldlistencarefullytothepoliticalscientistsyouwillhearthemdescribesomeofthesepartiesinthat vein.

Asaconsequence,today,theforcesoftheorganizedlabourmovementarelackinginthequalityoftheleadersrequired of themovementatthistimeinourhistory. The working class needs strong and progressive leadership
at this very moment. Not leaders who choose to talk progressive while their
actions prove otherwise.

The history of
the labour movement in this country is one of division caused by subterfuge and
outright reactionary behaviour on the part of some of its leaders. Once again that
seems to be our problem at both the political and trade union levels.

I
do not have to recount the many struggles which brought us from slavery and
indentureship to the right to vote, the right to form trade unions, to
independence, the 1970 revolt, Bloody Tuesday 1975, 1990 attempted coup and the
fact that today the working people are at a stage where all the gains achieved
as a result of these struggles are likely to disappear if we are not prepared
to defend them.

TRANSITION

We
are at a stage where the society is under threat. The threat which we face
comes from the fact that Trinidad and Tobago society is in transition. There
are forces at work that recognize that the forces of the working class are led
by some elements whose aspirations are to be among those who exploit the labour
of the workers. The broad masses of the working people have not thrown up
leaders who are feeling the pain and suffering of the people. Many are the
mocking pretenders.

Time
and events have spoken and by the process of illumination through the ballot
box, political leaders and parties have come and gone but the objective and
subjective conditions are yet to conspire to bring to the fore leaders who are
the embodiment of the aspirations of the broad masses of the working people.

We
are at a place where at this point in time if Trinidad and Tobago, as the
leader of the Islands of the Caribbean, succumbs to the policies of liberalism,
the rest of the islands will fall victim as well. Economic liberalism is not
the answer to the political and economic problems of the Caribbean. This is
where the absence of political and economic leadership is so glaring.

An
opportunity is now availing itself for the government to position itself to
deviate from the path of liberalism. I speak of the initiative of the so-called
BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) to begin
discussions about the formation of an economic bloc.

It
is true that all of these countries have different historical developments,
however, if they can succeed, such an economic bloc will represent about
quarter of the world's population and for its survival and its ability to
influence the rest of the developing world it will have to change the rules of
the geo- political/economic game.

The
foreign policy of such a bloc must be based on mutual respect for countries
regardless of size and economic standing. Trinidad and Tobago can examine
whether there are opportunities for countries who wish to continue pursuing
economic development that is along line which seeks to de- emphasize capitalism.

CENTRE

This
might be wishful thinking on my part because our leaders are not independent
thinkers. They rely very heavily on the views of external elements to decide
what is good for us. They do not see our sphere as the centre of the universe
and everything which happens in that universe happens because we caused it to
be so. It is that kind of thinking which ignites the imagination of a people to
go where no one has gone before.

Therefore
we must begin the discussion about the nature of leadership at all levels and
this must begin with discussions about the issues which affect the communities.
In fact these discussions have already begun. This is evidenced by the many
protest actions taking place across the country. The people are telling us
about the problems which affect their daily lives.

We
are also seeing that in many of these communities leaders are stepping forward
to speak about the problems which their communities face. If the government
fails to deal with these problems, one of these days we are going to see a
coming together of the people on a scale which will be difficult to ignore.

We
must remember that it took many years before the people got fed up with the PNM
government and party, to the point where they decided to remove the party from
power on three occasions.So it should
not be a surprise to anyone to find that the people's patience is already
running thin with the Peoples Partnership government. This is because, the
people are wiser politically notwithstanding the many obstacles placed in their
path.

I
speak here of the crime, corruption, the climate of fear which is now gripping
the country and so on. In spite of all these obstacles, the people remain alert
to the issues and aware of the machinations of the state and ruling class.

As
they meet and discuss they are gradually coming to a conclusion about the
quality and nature of the action which it will be necessary to take and at that
moment all the forces at work in the dialectical process will conspire to
produce leaders fit for the task of leadership and to realize the aspirations
of the people.